Abstract:

With nearly 50% of its population under 25 years of age, India is home to one-fifth of the world's youth population. To take advantage of this “youth bulge,” the country has taken several steps towards improving access to education in the last two decades. The Right to Education Act, 2010 made education a fundamental right. Subsequent government schemes, from the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, 2002 to the recent New Education Policy (NEP), 2020, have aimed to universalize education and improve gross enrolment ratios (GER) at all levels. Due to such initiatives, India has achieved 100% GER in primary education, nearly 80% in secondary education, 57% in senior secondary education, and 27% in higher education as of 2020-21. The literacy rate among youth (15-24 years) has reached 97% in 2022.

Despite these successful outcomes, India struggles with poor learning outcomes and low teacher standards. The State of Global Learning Poverty Report 2022 reveals that learning poverty in India is 56%, compared to 18% in China and Vietnam. This significantly hinders India's progress toward achieving the SDG 4 target of universal quality education by 2030. Further, the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) has revealed alarmingly low fundamental learning outcomes in reading and arithmetic across many states. For instance, only 50% of Grade 5 students can read a Grade 2-level text. Also, as per the government study by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), around 40% of the teachers recruited by the government are poorly qualified, highlighting the low pedagogical standards. Thus, there is an urgent need to improve learning and teaching outcomes.

At the same time, India is a global leader in the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) sector, with a booming educational technology (EdTech) industry. Studies project that the Edtech market in India will be one of the fastest-growing in the Asia-Pacific region, with an expected value of US$3.5 billion to be achieved by 2024. This growth, as estimated by the government, can propel India towards the goal of a US$1 trillion digital economy by 2027-28. Given the success of edtech start-ups and the government’s efforts to develop the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), integrating advanced edtech solutions into the educational framework can revolutionize learning outcomes.

This research aims to explore how the strengths of India's edtech industry can be harnessed to improve learning and teaching outcomes. It will present the current status, with a focus on some of the innovative and cost-effective ways to improve learning and teaching outcomes through the use of technology. It will also present some of the government initiatives and best practices, identify the issues, and suggest some recommendations on strengthening public-private partnerships to foster innovation and ensure equitable access to quality education, in developing countries like India.

Keywords:

India, Learning, Outcomes, EdTech, Education.